Monday, January 2, 2012

DOD Energy in 2012 - Hope as a Method

This is a tale in two tellings. Today we will look at where DOD ended the year and tomorrow we will look at the way ahead.

As the crystal ball descends in Times Square, it is time to
gaze into our own crystal ball and look to the future of DoD Energy. In Andy’s last post he covered the
highlights of 2011, a year of preparation.
Lots of plans written, organizations organized, staff hired and ducks
arranged linearly. Last year I observed that DOD would have to do the
following:

“Based upon previous
analysis, DOD needs to reduce its installation energy use by about 6,300
billion BTUs (BBTUs) every year to make the 2013 goal. It will have to add
about 1.5% of its total energy use every year in order to reach the 2015 goal.
“

We will have to wait until about August of 2012 to find out
if they made it. The updated DoD Strategic Sustainability Performance Plan,
FY 2011, released in December 2011 provides a good picture of what happened in
2010 and what needs (needed) to happen in 2011. The original plan was published August 2010
and, by law, was to have been updated within 180 days. Specifically, SEC. 842, of the 2011 NDAA
required that

“not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of
this Act, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense
committees a report on the status of the achievement by the Department of
Defense of the objectives and goals on the procurement of sustainable products
and services established by section 2(h) of Executive Order No. 13514”.

The 2011 NDAA was signed in December 2010 so 180 days was in
June 2011, but since the document has neither signature nor date, it is
difficult to know if it was submitted on time, but the fact that “FINAL_OCT11”
is in the document title, I kind of doubt it.
The report echoed the info in the DOD AEMR FY2010 report.

If you wade through the 115 pages you will find a trove of
statics, achievements and accolades to include these:

The Naval
Facilities Engineering Command (NAVFAC) established the Navy Shore Energy
Building Standard, which establishes energy and sustainability standards for
new construction and major renovation building projects as well as existing
buildings and routine maintenance.

The U.S.
Marine Corps (USMC) issued a bases to battlefield energy and water strategy in
February 2011, The Marine Corps Expeditionary Energy Strategy and Implementation
Plan.

The Army
has issued three sustainability policy memos since July 2010, on the
Utilization of Efficient Lighting, Managing Stormwater with Low Impact
Development, and Sustainable Design and Development. In October 2010, the Army
also issued updated implementation guidance for reauditing and re-declaration
of its Environmental Management Systems. The Army issued an updated Army Green
Procurement Guide and supporting educational briefings and tools in December
2010.

Air
Force Instruction 32-1021, Planning and Programming Military Construction
(MILCON) Projects was substantially revised in June 2010, including a
requirement for all eligible MILCON projects to achieve a minimum of Leadership
in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver certification and incorporate
the November 2010 Unified Facilities Criteria (UFC) on Low Impact Development,
into project designs.

DLA
issued an update in May 2011 to its Sustainable Design and Development Policy
in the form of a policy memorandum titled Defense Logistics Agency (DLA)
Sustainability and Energy Efficiency Policy. The document lays out requirements
for sustainable design and development in all DLA MILCON projects and
Sustainment, Restoration and Modernization projects, plus all minor construction
projects that exceed 25% of the current replacement value.

The
Department of the Navy (DON), DLA and the Missile Defense Agency (MDA) issued
policies in FY 2010 to reduce the use of printing paper.

Six highlights, all paper.
Except for the last one; I am sure that was issued electronically. I think the fact that the Marines actually
put an energy good idea into the acquisition system was the winner of the
year.

The comprehensive sustainability plan has four objectives
and eight supporting goals. Goals #1, 3
and 4 pertain to energy.

The three key sub goals under goal #1 provide the best
metrics for determine if DOD is serious about this, or just phoning it in.

Assuming that the mandates are what DOD is actually
attempting to meet, the 2012 bottom line for energy is a reduction in intensity and an increase renewable energy use (or procurement). The numbers are very straightforward. DOD must have
reduced intensity by 6.4% in 2011 and then drop an additional 3% in 2012 to get on target. In order for DOD to meet the mandates to have
produced or procured energy from renewable sources, they must have increased production (or
procurement) by 1.4% in 2011 and then pick up an additional 1% in 2012.

Given that 2011 was the year of paper and that the Iraq
drawdown increased populations at bases, I am not sanguine that those numbers
are on track, making the goals for 2012 even more difficult to achieve. So, what will happen in 2012? More to follow tomorrow. Dan Nolan

1 comment:

Those responsible for building the reports could potentially use them as a means for assigning responsibility. Under this scenario, report writers could request monthly or quarterly progress reports from facilities managers or regional facility managers. They could use the progress reports to gauge progress / reward positive results / punish negative ones.

Yet with 6 months to complete the report--and DOD using the full 6 months--it appears the report is merely an afterthought...paper to be pushed because Congress said so.

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This blog tracks the energy challenges facing the US Department of Defense in the early 21st century. Drawing from the best thinking inside and outside the Pentagon, it examines problems and identifies possible short, medium and long term solutions in technology and policy.

Andy Bochman runs the DOD Energy Blog and can be reached at andybochman at gmail dot com